Humans first

I read with interest Ben leather's comments (Nature, May) but was surprised to note that, while he linked human development with the destruction of animal species, the impact of this development
on the third world human species was largely overlooked.
Elsewhere in the magazine you referred to the influence of unrestricted travel and abusive land farming on the natural habitat of endangered species, but you failed to mention that every minute
thirty children die from starvation and other associated diseases in the human -and animal-world.
Do people not recognise the irony in this and do they not realise where we should place priorities?
I have been to Africa twice and much though I admire the animal world, I cannot help but focus my
interest on the most urgent human needs, and of children in particular, in such countries.
Surely it is time that everyone starts to question whether public money should be spent on saving
animals until there are humans needing to be saved.

seagulls:a pest

I would like to complain about the problems we have nowadays with seagulls in our city.They have become the new and noisy pest in our coastal residences. I say "new" because seagulls are on our roofs, and we can see them at any time. Some roofs are infested with them and people have started having problems with slates. "Noisy" because they don´t stop croaking day and night, disturbing our sleep. I know that they have lost their natural habitats because of the excess of buildings in some towns, but, do we really have to suffer them ? Some times it is almost impossible to get near the rubbish bins just because they are there, waiting for the supermarkets to throw away the left overs of the day. Could it be possible to find a solution to this problem? Cannot the Council do something? I don´t think the solution can be just stealing their eggs or breaking them, as some people propose. We need something done, something radical or they will become a real pest like rats.

Christmas Lighting

Christmas Lighting

Two letters published in your magazine on December 10th and 12th raised the issue of street lighting at Christmas. The first letter celebrated the decision taken by the City Council of Bilbao of lighting up the streets one week earlier this year, that is to say, on December 1st. The second complained about it and regarded it as an excessive consumption of energy.

It is undeniably true that due to this Christmas tradition of decorating the streets with lights the city changes its look for a time and seems to join in the celebrations. But aren’t we overdoing it a little? In these times of worlwide campaigning against global warming and institutional support of carbon footprint, what kind of values are we teaching our children?

Surely, rather than wasting all that energy for as long as five weeks, hadn’t we better limit the lighting to the Christmas period itself and this way save money and energy at the same time?

Letter to Ms Lennox

The Big Thaw

I have to disagree with Ms. Lennox’s letter about the Global Climate (December 12). She claims that “Global Warming is a natural change and, thus, Earth will continue to change no matter what we may or may not do”. I am fed up with people that link global warming and natural change. To deny that we are influencing that “natural cycle” and foolishly speeding up the process of melting of the ice masses is, simply, ignorance.
Ms Lennox quotes Darwin to say that “It is not the strongest of species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change”. Now, humans have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by more than a third since the industrial revolution. Changes this large have historically taken thousands of years, but are now happening over the course of decades. This, in terms of geologic time, is unbearable. The rapid rise in greenhouse gases is a problem because it is changing the climate faster than some living things may be able to adapt –mankind amongst them?. Also, a new and more unpredictable climate poses unique challenges to all life. Ms. Lennox, it is crystal clear that those who deny that global warming is caused by mankind have an obvious ulterior motive: to carry on comfortable and profit-motivated lifestyles.
In my view, it is not persisting deniers like Ms Lennox that are to fear; after all, I am sure there are some harmless folks out there who still believe evolution played no role in shaping us and that "God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so." (Are they really harmless?) But it is apathy and disbelief about climate change that are far from harmless, for they affect governmental policy (what about the Bali Summit?) and our ability to take action. The real challenge is to make people aware: What sacrifices am I ready to make?

wanna play?

Crazy about poetry and computers?
Ok, check this out!

http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcbasic/birthday/poem.exe

Take it easy,
Angel

Film Review-"Match point"

Woody Allen's "Match point" is a gripping story of ambition and lust with a final twist and an attempt at making a philosophical point on the meaning-or meaninglessness?-of life. Without deeming it a masterpiece,-some critics have overrated this film,perhaps due to the director's prestige-the movie really stands out and captures the viewer's attention by means of powerful devices and a dose of surprise.
Allen knows his trade so he cannily renders the ambience of the posh London high class through well-developed main characters, convincing dialogues and beautiful settings. On the other hand, nothing is quite what it seems here: surprisingly, Nola(Scarlett Johansson) and Chris(Jonathan Rhys Meyers),the lovers, are both outsiders who have been accepted into that exclusive club. Neither of them ends up the stereotype they initially fake: the sexy man-eater and the romantic gentlemanly lad every mother-in-law would dream of. Moreover, as the plot gradually progresses, even the genre becomes dubious: are we watching a love story, a thriller or what?
As possible flaws, I could mention the ending, which is rather far-fetched, and a jarred, unsuccessful attempt at establishing a deeper, subtler level of meaning. But on the whole, the virtues of the film outweigh by far its faults. I won't disclose any more details about the plot, so as to leave you with the intrigue(in case you haven't seen it yet). A should see.

Film review

Hi blogmates!
I wanted to write a film review about “Monster Factory” but I have changed my mind because the film didn,t convince me much. Instead I would recommend your to watch “Schreck”. This film is really worth watching. Any of the three versions made are a masterpiece. It is a cartoon film which main character, a green monster embarks on the most hillarious adventures together with his mates a donkey an a cat . He finds his true love in Princess Fiona which he rescued from the tower. In the second film they go to Fiona`s castle, in order to get the blessing of her parents. This second film is the one I know best because I have it at home and watch it with my children every now and then.
The situations are originally madeand very funny. The music is wonderful. It is also a mixture of many of the characters taken from a lot of well-known tales. The film is full with references to other films and also to real characters of the American scene. It is not only for children, because they are not able to follow many of the jokes, but also for adults. I loved it the fist time I saw it.

FILM REVIEW

EAST IS EAST
A group of streapers, a music band, a dancing child and now a "Pakistani" family.What do all these films have in common? They are set in the 70´s and 80´s in low-working class neighborhoods, they depicte the social problems these people face everyday.But, what´s special about "East is East"? In this case the films presents the conflics that emerge in a multiracial and multicultural family living in England.The father is a man who came from Pakistan having absolutely nothing and who became the proud owner of a Fish and Chips shop. Married to an English woman the problems start when he tries to follow his own country´s traditions in marrying their children in the Muslim way... Of course he doesn´t know that they prefer being Christians and that they consider themselves British and no Paks (as they say).
The portrait is a sour one in which they mix the tragedy they all are living when marriages are set and the comic scenes when the children try to cheat their father (the girl playing football with other boys,for example). The story also touches ill-treatment but shown as a cultural tradition.
If you liked "Billy Elliot" and the stuff you´ll pass a good time watching this one.

Film Review

This Happy Breed, directed by David Lean.-

I would recommend this film, the most successful blockbuster in 1944 and directed by David Lean, to all those people keen on so-called British social films with an optimistic tinge, depicting the humour and resilience of ordinary British people even in the worst of circumstances.
It starts with a breathtaking opening sequence, a stunning aerial view of London, from the Thames and across the rooftops, down to the back door of one particular house and right through it to the front door.
Here live the Gibbons, a lower-middle class family in the suburbs of South London between 1919 and the outbreak of World War II in September 1939.
Their everyday lives show us some of the important events in the post-war national reconstruction, and their discussions, about whether another war will somehow be avoided.
The plot, the setting and the characters get wonderfully accomplished and, thus, we get an intimate portrait of the economy and politics of Great Britain in the 1920s and 30s, and the advances in technology : the arrival of primitive crystal radio sets, home gas lights being replaced by electric lights, the arrival of telephones and mass broadcast radio. The dialogues are really witty and at times moving.
Moreover, he is considered to be one of the greatest film directors of all time by many people and having some of his films achieved great success (Dr. Zhivago, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Oliver Twist, Passage to India, among many others)

The Human Stain

THE HUMAN STAIN: A REVIEW

Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins stars this dramatic thriller based on a novel by Philip Roth. He plays the role of a prestigious classics professor who is dismissed from the university where he works on the grounds of an accusation of racism.

The film starts with a car accident where the two main characters, Nathony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman, the professor’s lover, apparently die. In fact, this is the end of the story.The film then moves back in time to the professor’s dismissal and his wife’s death. After that we are introduced to the two other leading characters played by Gary Sinise, once a successful writer who is now living in a cabin by a lake and by Nicole Kidman, a woman with a dark past who becomes the professor’s lover.

The story has an unexpected twist when by means of flashbacks into the professor’s past we discover a secret he has hidden for years. Besides, this gripping thriller reveals the mystery in the professor’s lover’s previous life, a tragic story of lost children and an abusive husband.

With The Human Stain, Robert Benton, the director, concocts an intelligent and dramatic thriller that intertwines the themes of racism, remorse, women’s battering etc. in a story with a tragic ending. You should definitely see it if only for its superb acting and engaging plot... And perhaps for the two questions that have been left unanswered: was the accident deliberate? And what is the professor’s secret?

A real traveller´s book

Hello blogmates. I know I should be writing a film review but this is going to be a book review instead. I hope you do not mind. Ok Anne? The point is that, now that I have just finished reading this book, I take it as a must for me to recommend it to you all.

The Age of Kali by William Dalrymple is a panorama of the Indian subcontinent, poised in between chaos, westernisation and immemorial tradition. To put it into Dalrymple´s own words:"This book is a collection of peripatetic essays, a distillation of ten years´travel ... My travels took me from the fortresses of the drug barons of the North-West Frontier to the jungle lairs of the Tamil Tigers; from flashy Bombay drinks parties to murderous Bihari blood feuds; from the decaying palaces of Lucknow to the Keralan exrorcist temple of the bloodthirsty goddess of Parashakti".

Diverse as it is, The Age of Kali has the effect of engaging, making its author such an attractive companion you don´t want the journey to end. Dalrymple has an extraordinary ability to set a scene and conjure an atmosphere. His description of goddess Parashakti´s seizure of possessed persons at the Chottanikkara Temple is simply breathtaking.

But Dalrymple´book is also informative and, at times, funny in its tone. When visiting the Tamil region in Sri Lanka, he is given permission -the first time for a foreign journalist- to meet the "Freedom Birds", probably the most upright of all guerrillas, formed only with girls. As the author puts it in his book:

"It is easy to se why the Freedom Birds are kept away from the public eye, strictly segregated in their own barracks. They are stuff of Bond movies: a regiment of beautiful Tamil amazones dressed in tight-fitting khaki fatigues, with carbines strapped across their waists. But they were far from the Bond model in at least one respect, as I soon discovered: they had all taken a vow of chastity, and were as buttoned-up as an order of cloistered nuns".

Dalrymple´s The Age of Kali is simply fascinating.

Film review

Saving Grace

It is a film with a story centred on Grace Trevethen's struggle to survive after her husband's tragic death has left her with a manor, but having to face a great amount of debts and a lot of creditors after her. To make things worse she also finds out that her husband had a lover.
Suddenly her comfortable world is turned upside down, so she realizes that if she doesn't take a quick decision she is bound to lose everything she had taken for granted.
Together with the manor's caretaker, they engage in a risky business to save her properties, making the spectator feel that they may end up in prison. Nevertheless, out of their personal needs, a very deep and special relationship builds up between them to support each other to the end.
As for Grace's character, on the one hand it conveys innocence and at first she seems to be delightfully naive, on the other hand as the film goes on she reveals her cunning side.
It is a simple but well developed plot gripping the spectator's attention, wondering what is up next. The film in itself is humoruos and in particular the way some of the characters are portrayed, such as the two ladies in the village shop, the doctor, and the policeman.
However, the most hilarious scenes are when Grace smokes marijuana for the first time, and when she faces the drug dealers in London.
The film was rated as the comedy hit of that year, therefore I would recommend it to those who love having fun built up in a clever way. Moreover, the two main protagonists' interpretation is splendid.